Tea and Fireworks
by thequillofimagination
Summary: Clara gets a late night cup of tea, but the guy at the coffee shop is acting very strangely... Whouffle fluff, please r&r
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic in ages, and it's my first ever Doctor Who one, so please r&r to let me know how to improve! Thanks :)**

Clara stared absent-mindedly at the menu board behind the counter.

"Are you ordering something?" Clara jolted back to Earth and concentrated on the man stood behind the till in front of her. He was wearing an apron and was looking mildly concerned.

"Oh, erm, yeah!" she said. "Cup of tea please". The man nodded and started to make the tea. Clara glanced around the shop. She was the only customer in there at that late hour, but she preferred it like that. She cast around for something to say.

"Stuck on the late shift?" She cringed as she said it. Seriously, could she not think of anything more imaginative than that? The guy looked up.

"Yes. But it's okay, because that's usually when all the monsters show up." Clara raised her eyebrows.

"When the monsters show up? Sounds like it's been a long day." The guy handed her the tea and she paid him.

"Not at all. It makes the day longer when there are no monsters. Where's the fun in that?" He sounded quite serious.

"They are- they are figurative monsters, right? You don't get like, rats or something in here, do you?" She glanced around nervously. The man shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. Well, a bit like that, on some days, if you're on the right planet. But not today." Clara frowned.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit... excited." The man clapped his hands together.

"I'm fine. Brilliant, in fact. I'm a barista!" Clara nodded slowly.

"Yes, you are. Well done." She glanced around again. "Look, do you want me to see if I can get someone for you, erm,-" she peered at his name badge, "Doctor?"

"No need," he said. "To be fair, I think I'm probably the only one who could handle this particular situation. In fact, it's probably best if you get out of here in the next-" he looked at his wrist, "-eighty seconds." Clara narrowed her eyes.

"You're not wearing a watch." He glanced at his wrist again.

"No, I'm not. But you really, really, should leave." He motioned clumsily towards the door.

Clara took a deliberately prolonged sip of her tea.

"Why, what's going to happen?" she asked.

"Something very, very, bad, probably. Or possibly nothing very exciting. Hopefully the first one. It''s far more interesting that way." There was bang from outside the door. "Excuse me!" He rushed out from behind the counter and ran out of the door.

"Erm, Doctor..." said Clara. He popped his head back around the door. "That was a firework."

He frowned.

"I knew that."

"So what were you expecting to happen?" she asked.

"Well," he said, "a very loud bang, mainly." Clara raised her eyebrows.

"It seems you got it- what are you doing?" He was taking off his apron.

"I don't need this job." He fixed the bowtie that had been under his uniform.

"You can't just walk out!" exclaimed Clara.

"Yes I can, it's easy." He walked towards the staff door. "Here I am, walking out." He disappeared through the door, and after casting yet another uneasy glance around the shop, Clara followed him.

On opening the door, she found herself facing a big blue box that read "Police Public Call box". The Doctor was nowhere to be seen, so she guessed he must be in the box. She cautiously pushed the door open.

"Oh my God."


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor turned around and threw his hands out.

"Well?" he asked, "What do you think?" Clara paused for a minute, staring around the massive... well, she didn't know quite what it was, but it was definitely massive.

"I- I think it's-"

"Bigger on the inside? Smaller on the outside? Yep, it is." The Doctor said cheerfully.

"I was going to say that I think it's a big step up from the coffee shop, actually." The Doctor pouted.

"You're supposed to do the whole 'bigger on the inside' bit. That's always fun." Clara raised her eyebrows.

"So what actually is this place?" she asked, walking up the ramp towards the main console. There seemed to be some sort of pillar coming out of the middle of it, and none of the controls looked very official; They all looked like they'd been cobbled together from the contents of a kitchen drawer.

"This is the TARDIS- that is, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." At her confused look, he elaborated. "It's a spaceship. And it travels in time." Clara's eyes widened.

"You have a time machine?! How is this not on the news? I'm pretty sure we'd know if time travel had been invented. Unless... is this a military thing?" She tilted her head suspiciously.

"Good!" said the Doctor, "Except, you're extremely wrong. But I am impressed." He strode around to the far side of the console and Clara followed him.

"So what's the truth then?" she asked.

"I'm a Time Lord. The last of them, actually." Suddenly, his eyes looked very old, and Clara wondered how she hadn't noticed them before. "So I travel the universe, and fight the bad guys. And there's an awful lot of running involved." Clara put her hand on top of his where it rested on the console.

"Well, I'm always up for a run." She smiled at him. She got the feeling that he'd been too lonely for too long. He grinned, and looked young again. Still, Clara could see the shadow of those old eyes behind the mask of enthusiasm.

"Alright then!" All of a sudden, he was all action again. "What do you want to do? Anywhere and anywhen in the universe; it's all yours." Clara paused again.

"So... I tell you where or when to go and we'll just.. be there? We can seriously do that? You better not be making this up." There was something about the Doctor that made Clara sure he was telling the truth, but in her head it all just sounded so ridiculous.

"I'm not making it up. What shall we do?" He asked.

"Well..." Clara hesitated. "There is something I've always wanted to see..."

"What is it?" asked the Doctor.

"I've always wanted to see Ancient Greece, back when it wasn't ancient." The Doctor grinned and fiddled with the controls on the console.

"Greece it is!" he said, and pulled a lever.


End file.
